2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Zy Alexander (CB – LSU)

FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL Draft scouting reports before the Combine in March. Here’s a look at LSU cornerback Zy Alexander. And check out our entire 2025 NFL Draft Guide.

2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Zy Alexander

Zy Alexander (CB – LSU)

6-foot-2 | 194 Pounds

Background

Zy Alexander is a Louisiana native who played quarterback and wide receiver in high school before committing to Southeastern Louisiana, where he spent three seasons. Started four out of six games in 2020, finishing with 29 tackles. Became a full-time starter the following year and posted 39 tackles, 13 breakups and six interceptions. Scored on two of his three interceptions in 2022, adding 27 tackles and seven breakups.

Transferred to LSU and immediately stepped into a starting role, recording 44 tackles, two interceptions and seven breakups over eight appearances. Had 33 tackles, two interceptions and four breakups over 11 games this past season.

Positives

Tall, lanky corner who has been starting since he first converted to the position back in 2020. Made the leap from a small school to a major program relatively well, with a significantly improved second season. Typically lines up on the left side of the defense, whether that’s the field side or boundary, with a lot of off-coverage and shuffle technique; when he’s on the right, it’s usually on the short side.

Alexander Plays with a pretty conservative approach, getting enough depth to keep the play in front of him. Shows good balance and clean footwork to backpedal. Does a pretty good job of processing route combinations from zone. Uses his hands to disrupt timing at the stem from off-coverage. Closing speed is pretty good to limit yards after the catch when playing off-coverage against underneath routes.

He aggressively high-points throw when he gets his head around, which, combined with his height and length, allows him to disrupt throws downfield. Shows good flexibility to make plays on the ball when targeted. Does a nice job of avoiding penalties, having been flagged just four times throughout his career. Gets good extension to play off of blocks in the run game. Has been a very reliable tackler throughout his career, missing less than 10% of his career attempts, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). Does a nice job of using his length and flexibility to bring down ball-carriers in space.

Negatives

Alexander missed time due to injuries and has a somewhat thin frame. Didn’t get a chance to see him get physical with many opponents at the line of scrimmage to disrupt releases, as he was typically bailing out into a shuffle technique. His feet aren’t the quickest and he might struggle to stick with quicker receivers in man coverage.

Coverage isn’t the tightest on runaways like crossers. Doesn’t have the most seamless transitions when planting and driving. Limits big plays more because of his conservative approach than because of his route anticipation. More of a reliable tackler than an especially physical one.

Summary

A tall, lanky cornerback who does a nice job of keeping things in front of him in zone coverage, processing routes and tackling reliably to limit yards after the catch. While Alexander also flashes some impressive ball skills, his conservative approach somewhat limited the frequency of plays on the ball. He may not have ideal speed or quickness for a man-cover corner. Temperamentally, and because of his tackling, could also be looked at as a candidate to convert to free safety.

Projection: Round 3/Round 4

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